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Questions About Other Places
facetious
a wit so dryit shits sandRegistered User regular
a wit so dryit shits sandRegistered User regular
So we here in SE++ are rather multinational, I've noticed. Quite a few of us Americans, of course, and there are the contingents from Canada, the UK, and Australia, as well as various Scandinavian countries, and loads of others.
Personally, in a broad sense I often think about how other people experience life - but specifically, I find myself with odd questions about various minutiae from other places and/or cultures, things that everyone in their own bubble takes for granted. For instance, one of my longest running thoughts, from as early an age as I can remember, has been: "How do you say 'ow' in other languages?" A trifling matter, to be sure, but curious enough for my young - and still, my older - mind.
So because these questions occur, and presumably others have them as well, I thought that we could use the resource that is this forum and the widespread denizens of which it is comprised and actually ask them and maybe have them answered!
To start off with, I have two that have cropped up in my head recently:
1. In parts of Canada not generally (stereotypically?) considered "French-Canadian", how common is to hear French being spoken? Is it still quite normal, or is it the sort of thing where if you hear it, you'd assume the person is a tourist or something?
2. This is a kind of dumb one, but obviously, in the UK what we call 'pants' are strictly trousers, due to the fact that your pants are our underwear. Is there a term for what we call "sweatpants"? I've never heard the term "sweat trousers" (and it sounds incredibly stupid - though so does 'sweatpants' to be fair) so is there just a specific name for them....?
Actually, sidenote, is there any particular reason for the term "jumpers" for what we call sweaters? That's another thing I've wondered about ever since I heard it. Not that ours has a particularly academic entymology either, but I wonder if it has a specific origin. (Even if it's an apocryphal one, like "crap" was said to have come from Thomas Crapper's name.)
Personally, in a broad sense I often think about how other people experience life - but specifically, I find myself with odd questions about various minutiae from other places and/or cultures, things that everyone in their own bubble takes for granted. For instance, one of my longest running thoughts, from as early an age as I can remember, has been: "How do you say 'ow' in other languages?" A trifling matter, to be sure, but curious enough for my young - and still, my older - mind.
So because these questions occur, and presumably others have them as well, I thought that we could use the resource that is this forum and the widespread denizens of which it is comprised and actually ask them and maybe have them answered!
To start off with, I have two that have cropped up in my head recently:
1. In parts of Canada not generally (stereotypically?) considered "French-Canadian", how common is to hear French being spoken? Is it still quite normal, or is it the sort of thing where if you hear it, you'd assume the person is a tourist or something?
2. This is a kind of dumb one, but obviously, in the UK what we call 'pants' are strictly trousers, due to the fact that your pants are our underwear. Is there a term for what we call "sweatpants"? I've never heard the term "sweat trousers" (and it sounds incredibly stupid - though so does 'sweatpants' to be fair) so is there just a specific name for them....?
Actually, sidenote, is there any particular reason for the term "jumpers" for what we call sweaters? That's another thing I've wondered about ever since I heard it. Not that ours has a particularly academic entymology either, but I wonder if it has a specific origin. (Even if it's an apocryphal one, like "crap" was said to have come from Thomas Crapper's name.)
"I am not young enough to know everything." - Oscar Wilde
Steam: Chagrin LoL: Bonhomie
Robert Khoo wrote: »Real strong, facetious.
Steam: Chagrin LoL: Bonhomie
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I still haven't figured out where the hell the third one came from
granted, I live in the most American part of Canada (southern Ontario)
but I have never in my life heard someone speaking french outside of a classroom setting
and she spoke English not very well and French (well, Quebecois) was her first language
so I presume it's pretty common to hear French being spoken
EDIT: oh oops I missed the "NOT" part of the question
It took me a minute to understand what he meant.
it's the british ancestry showing
How great is it when you leave Minnesota?
Satans..... hints.....
but outside of that not so much
there are communities outside of Quebec, but yeah.
i really wish i knew french better, all those years wasted.
'Murrica
Read that as bicorn.
Dich: That's what I wondered/kinda figured.
Steam: Chagrin LoL: Bonhomie
"Whoops."
Mainly because I feel like I was born in the wrong place.
Steam: Chagrin LoL: Bonhomie
Is it Finland? Or are you all too busy being nice too people?
Satans..... hints.....
seriously, had classes on the language for seven years and I retain nothing of it
not america, seriously
Stereotypical canadians too saying "eh" all the time and talking about hockey
I also befriended a lady with a mustache selling shirts
and watched my drunk dad argue with a petting zoo dude over whether he can feed goats pringles
To be honest, I really like it here! The winters are harsh but offer their own entertainment, and the outdoor activities in the summer are grand. Canoeing in the Boundary Waters is an amazingly isolating experience.
And we have the biggest state fair in the country for all your deep fried shit on a stick.
Music scene's decent too.
That said, I really enjoy the deep south because the contrast is so marked.
(Also I'm trying to move to your crazy dingo country so that'll also be different.)
it is Norway!
Hong Kong?
TALL BUILDINGS
once I met a bunch of americans waiting in line for a concert
they were really loud and belligerent and could not stop laughing at the french half of all our packaging
"eh" is a midwestern thing. Not a Canada thing. just most of our population is in that region, so it becomes a thing nationally.
Goats can totally eat priggles. they eat cans for god's sake!
i got like ten years of french, i can read bits of it. speaking it? no.
I know you mentioned this in the AusPAX thread already but
YUSSSSSS
I need to focus on getting my LPN done, but I will be picking your brain about immigration in a few months!
this story would be better if they were at a hockey game
Look at me, I'm French! I'm eating a le pèánùt buttaire cup.
Satans..... hints.....
The hysterical thing is that Australians will make fun of Canadians for saying "eh" all the time... but then Aussies say "hey" at the end of every other goddamn sentence.
like
"it's shit-hot outside, hey!"
"ugh you must be so tired, hey"
"let's head off, hey?"
it's WEIRD
also yeah you are right about "eh" being a regional thing in the midwest... Wisconsinites in particular
I live in an incredibly multiculural city (vancouver) and I hear two people having a french conversation maybe about once every month or two. Today behind me in the grocery store line up two ladies were having a conversation. It depends what part of Canada you're in, really. People speaking fluent french tends to get your attention.
Oh no!
Do you have to hide your Norwegian heritage?
Satans..... hints.....
Who wants deep fried Oreos?
Legitimately one of the tastiest things I've ever eaten, and I don't even like Oreos that much.
Steam: Chagrin LoL: Bonhomie